Implementing the National Health Security Strategy

A five-part White Paper series by the former Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Dr. Craig Vanderwagen, M.D., RADM, USPHS (Retired)

In this ground breaking whitepaper series Dr. Vanderwagen explores critical issues that affect the success of the public health practitioner in meeting the needs of the public's health, and by doing so, increasing the resilience of communities and the Nation.

Preview each topic in this series by watching the videos below.

Rear Admiral Craig Vanderwagen M.D., Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response of Health and Human Services testifies during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Thursday, April 30, 2009 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"The mission to protect the public's health and prevent disease is dependent upon effective and useful logistical systems designed specifically for the purposes of the public health practitioner."

Learn More About The National Health Security Strategy

The series takes as its guiding framework, the National Health Security Strategy (NHSS) developed and released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in December 2009. The development and public release of this strategic document was directed by Congress as part of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act of December 2006. The document is the product of a wide variety of stakeholder discussions and an examination of the real threat issues confronting the Nation. It is a national document, not just a federal document.

The NHSS has 10 stated strategic goals. This series explores the practical applications of tools that will be major elements in the successful achievement of at least four of them (Integrated/Scalable Health Care Systems; Effective Countermeasure Enterprise; Post Incident Recovery; and Situational Awareness) and add materially to the achievement of at least two others (Science, Evaluation, and Quality Assurance Improvements and Timely and Effective Communications). By bringing focus and effort to these practical considerations the public health practitioner can indeed contribute to the implementation and success of the NHSS which is a portion of our overall national security enterprise.

Learn More About Dr. Craig Vanderwagen

From August 2006 until July 2009, Dr. Vanderwagen was the founding Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role he was responsible for the leadership and development of a new organization whose mission was preparing the Nation for response and recovery from public health and other health disasters whether natural or manmade.

His assignments prior to becoming Assistant Secretary included many deployments in disaster environments. These included lead federal health official in Louisiana after Katrina from August-November, 2005; lead public health official and senior officer aboard the USNS Mercy in Indonesia after the tsunami in 2005; Director of Primary Care and Public Health for the Ministry of Health in Iraq from September 2003-March, 2004; consultant to the Pan American Health Organization in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch in 1999; and Medical Director for Project Provide Refuge (joint DOD-HHS Kosovar refugee assistance) in 1999.